This time of year, our interests tend to be focused on other areas. Like celebrations and gifting. Thankfully, Bradford is here to let you know that this is also the time to take a last look at your portfolio to see if there are any potential financial moves to assure your plan is aligned, efficient and takes advantage of any year-end opportunities that apply to your situation. He highlights 5 areas to consider before the end of 2025, along with in-depth reasoning.

Check out Bradford’s Financial Flash video to see if any of these apply to your account. For our current Stiles’ clients, we’re ready to walk you through any recommended changes and if you’re not a client yet, reach out and perhaps we can show you the difference, high-touch, personalized, private wealth management can make to your piece-of-mind and planning for your unique retirement goals.   

Thank you, have a wonderful weekend. Reach out if we can help.

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Did you know that Stiles Financial Services was recognized as a 2025 Newsweek® Top Financial Advisory Firm in the United States?!  And we have you, our clients, to thank!

FFR 267 – Year-End Strategies to Consider

Hi everyone, Bradford here with another Financial Flash. As we approach the end of the year, it’s a great time to make sure your financial plan is aligned, efficient, and capturing any year-end opportunities that apply to your situation. Today I want to highlight several key strategies that can help reduce taxes, strengthen your retirement outlook, and support the causes that matter most to you.

Let’s start with tax bracket management.
Two of the most powerful tools this time of year are tax-loss harvesting and Roth conversions.

First, tax-loss harvesting.
If you have investments in taxable accounts that are currently down, we can intentionally realize those losses to offset gains or even reduce ordinary income. If you still want to own the same investment, we can sell it and buy it back after avoiding the wash-sale window, or buy a similar replacement to maintain your market exposure. This effectively resets your cost basis higher, which can reduce future taxable gains. And depending on your income, sometimes even realizing gains can be tax-free federally (if you’re in the 0% capital-gains bracket).

Next, Roth conversions.
Roth conversions are especially powerful in a lower-income year, but they can also make sense in a normal income year. The key question is whether your tax rate today is lower than what you expect it to be in the future—especially once Required Minimum Distributions begin. We know what tax rates are now, but we don’t know what they’ll be later, and they could be higher. With a conversion, you pay a known tax rate today and then enjoy tax-free growth going forward. Roth conversions can also reduce future RMDs, which may lower your lifetime taxes and create a more tax-efficient inheritance for your family.

Now let’s talk about charitable giving.
This is an area where a small planning decision can create a meaningful impact. Donating appreciated securities allows you to avoid capital-gains tax while giving the full value to charity. If you’re age 70½ or older, Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA can satisfy part of your RMD without increasing your taxable income. And remember, all charitable gifts need to be completed or checks cashed by December 31st to count for this year. Some people choose to group or bunch multiple years of gifts into a single year to increase their deduction. Another option is a donor-advised fund, which allows you to take a charitable deduction in the year you fund it while giving the money to charities over time.

Moving on to retirement planning.
If you’re subject to Required Minimum Distributions, make sure those are completed before year-end to avoid penalties. For contributions, remember that any HSA savings made through payroll must be done before December 31st, but personal HSA and IRA contributions can still be made up until the tax-filing deadline in April.

We also recommend a year-end portfolio check.
Market movement throughout the year can shift your allocation away from your target. If you’re working with us, we monitor and rebalance your managed accounts throughout the year. But if you have outside accounts—old 401(k)s, self-directed brokerage accounts, or other non-managed holdings—this is an especially good time to make sure those are still aligned with your goals and your comfort with risk.

And finally, a few quick administrative reminders.
Review your beneficiary designations.
Confirm that account titles and estate documents still reflect your wishes.
And if you’ve had major life changes this year — like a move, a marriage or divorce, retirement, or welcoming new grandchildren — make sure your financial plan reflects those updates.

As always, our team is here to help you finish the year strong and set yourself up for success in the year ahead. If any of these strategies raise questions for you, or if you’d like to talk through how they apply to your situation, please feel free to reach out.

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you in the next Financial Flash.